Swietenia

Plant Characteristics

Habit		tree
Lifespan:	⌛	perennial

Cultivation

Features:	✓	evergreen

Scientific Names

Meliaceae >

Swietenia >

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Swietenia is a genus of trees in the mahogany family Meliaceae. It occurs in the Neotropics, from southern Florida, the Caribbean, Mexico and Central America south to Bolivia. It is usually taken to consist of three species, geographically separated. They are medium-sized to large trees growing to 20-45 m tall, and up to 2 m trunk diameter. The leaves are 10-30 cm long, pinnate, with 3-6 pairs of leaflets, the terminal leaflet absent; each leaflet is 5-15 cm long. The leaves are deciduous to semi-evergreen, falling shortly before the new foliage grows. The flowers are produced in loose inflorescences, each flower small, with five white to greenish-yellowish petals. The fruit is a pear-shaped five-valved capsule 8-20 cm long, containing numerous winged seeds about 5-9 cm long.

Read about Swietenia in the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture

Swietenia (named for Gerard van Swieten, 1700-1772). Meliaceae. Trees, sometimes grown in the warmhouse, one of them yielding the mahogany of commerce: lvs. even-pinnate, very glabrous; lfts. opposite, petioled, obliquely ovate, long-acuminate: fls. small, in axillary or subterminal panicles; calyx small, 5-cleft; petals 5, spreading; staminal tube urn-shaped, 10-toothed, anthers 10; disk annular; ovary sessile, ovoid, 5-celled: caps. 5-celled, about 3 in. diam.—Three species, Trop. Amer. Intro. into S. U. S. S. Chloroxylon. Roxbg.-Chloroxylon Swietenia. CH The above text is from the Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture. It may be out of date, but still contains valuable and interesting information which can be incorporated into the remainder of the article. Click on "Collapse" in the header to hide this text.

Cultivation

Species

The three species are poorly defined biologically, in part because they hybridize freely when grown in proximity.

Species

• Swietenia humilis - Pacific Coast Mahogany. Pacific coast of Central America and Mexico.
• Swietenia macrophylla - Honduras Mahogany. Atlantic coast of Central America, South America south to Bolivia.
• Swietenia mahagoni - West Indian Mahogany. Southern Florida, Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola.

Gallery

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External links

• w:Swietenia. Some of the material on this page may be from Wikipedia, under the Creative Commons license.
• Swietenia QR Code (Size 50, 100, 200, 500)